


The Past Cannot Be Changed

by SelkieMarie



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: A lot of weird ideas to be thrown around, Convinces Jeremy not to immediately kill his ass, I need more of these fanfictions so here is me making more, I usually plan out stories but for this one fuck it I'm diving in, I'm so sorry for whatever I write, Jeremy comes up with the idea, Jeremy is an angsty little shit, Jeremy is extremely resistant, Michael is a huge help in this fanfic because Y'KNOW, Michael is an innocent, Michael is even more so, Multi, No but everyone in my stories are little shits don't worry about it, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Squip, Rich is an asshole, SQUIP - Freeform, Squip comes back, The Squip is snarky and will stay snarky, These tags are terrible oh my god, Why look for fanfics when you can make your own, boyf riends — Freeform, okay so like, somehow ends up being able to communicate with others than Jeremy, trust me on this, wise squip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2018-12-06 17:05:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11605044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelkieMarie/pseuds/SelkieMarie
Summary: The future is yet in everyone's power. It is everyone's job to guarantee a peaceful future. And with summer vacation soon coming to put a close to what had been an interesting year, Jeremy was ready to forget what had nearly destroyed everything, until however, it came back.





	1. Chapter 1

"Jeremy? Hey, buddy you okay?" Michael nudged Jeremy a bit, who, at that moment, was face down on his school desk.

  


"Huh?" Jeremy groaned, lifting his head and blinking at Michael.

  


"Jeremy, buddy, we're twenty minutes into homeroom and you're already zoning out. You doing alright?" Michael joked a bit. "You're lucky I had the compassion to wake you up before the teacher comes in."

  


"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just had a really hard time sleeping last night." Jeremy rubbed his eyes. He wasn't lying. The night before had been a special kind of hell for him. He had a migraine that rivaled any headache he'd ever had in his life. He was pretty sure even whacking himself with a metal bat would feel better than the kind of pain he was in. The only slight relief he could find was turning off all the lights and sticking some outside noise-proof headphones in. He didn't listen to anything of course. That would have made it worse. The pain ceased at around five in the morning, only an hour before he was supposed to get up. He cherished that sleep. 

  


"Yeah, I understand how you feel, man." Michael suddenly piped up, "I was binging this show-thing, I think it was called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead?" 

  


"Sounds fun." Jeremy said sarcastically.

  


"Anyways, what was keeping you up?" Michael tilted his head a bit before suddenly adding onto his question, "If your answer includes a certain type of media we both know you look at, you don't have to tell me."

  


Jeremy's face went a bit red, "No, no not anything like that." He held up his hands defensively. "I just had a bit of a headache last night, that's all."

  


"You should have called me up man. I can drive some Aspirin to your place any-" Michael cut off his sentence to look forward, "Teacher's here. We'll talk later." He smiled.

  


"Yeah, make sure to elbow me if I fall asleep again." Jeremy said quietly, to which Michael gave him a thumbs up.

  


"Hello boys and girls." The teacher stood at the front of the class, "How did your weekends go?" Everyone in the class muttered 'Good' or 'So-so' as per usual, including that one kid who always said 'bad' as an attempt at sarcasm.

  


"That's good, good.." The teacher muttered before sitting down at their desk. "Just as an announcement," They started, "As you all know, summer is creeping up fast, and I'll need you all to turn in your books as soon as possible. Not doing so will add to your list of obligations, resulting in-" The teacher's voice faded away as Jeremy blocked out the sound. They obviously weren't wrong though. Summer vacation was in a week, and Jeremy planned to spend the bulk of it with Michael. Of course there were other people to share it with as well. His first summer with multiple, actual friends. He sighed to himself, dreaming over the many possibilities, finally able to branch out. Of course he wasn't sick of Michael, he just was excited over the prospect of new people. Rich particularly was extremely nice to him after the incident, followed by Jake, Jenna, the list goes on. He wasn't the most popular by any means, but he never saw being popular as something attractive.

  


Christine especially was very forgiving after the incident, and while the first few dates between them were enjoyable, they realized it was more fun hanging out as friends instead of lovers. Jeremy was alright with it, after all, he figured he was starved for interaction when he first noticed Christine. Seeing movies, walking around, and practicing play lines with Christine was enough for him. Though he had seen her less and less due the after school activities, including play rehearsal, ending in preparation for the end of the year. He hoped he would see more of her during the summer.

  


Jeremy snapped back suddenly, paying attention to what was being said at the front of the class. "Considering that we only have a week left, and no assignments, I feel it's only appropriate to showcase some films." The teacher smiled as the rest of the class sighed in relief. "Though considering this is Biology, I kept the movies a bit more related to the class subject so I don't get in trouble." The teacher smiled. "Yes Michael?" He nodded at Michael in the back, who was waving his hand in the air.

  


"Are we watching Bill Nye?!" He said rather loudly. Normally, this would have only earned a few chuckles around the classroom, and an annoyed teacher possibly, but Michael mentioned this with such an enthusiastic and excited manner, that most of the class began to either laugh or chuckle. Jeremy himself started to laugh, a little embarrassed at Michael's outburst though.

  


"No, sadly." The teacher sighed. "I'll be putting on 'I Am Legend' today and tomorrow, and probably ride it out with 'Contagion'" He explained, before moving over to the DVD player and preparing to put on the film. Picking up the remote, the teacher attempted to switch on the movie, but to no avail. "Great." He muttered before turning to the class. "Hold on for awhile while I go and get someone who actually knows how to work this thing. Someone switch off the lights while I'm gone. Jeremy, thank you for volunteering."

  


The rest of the class chuckled as Jeremy blinked at the teacher and got up, walking over to the light as the teacher left the room. He switched off the lights, yawning a bit, before looking to go back to his seat. 

  


He stopped dead in his tracks, however, spotting a pair of painfully familiar artificially blue eyes, glowing in the darkness, as a long, dark shadow warped around them and Jeremy's seat.

  


"Hey, dude, you okay? You're zoning out." A kid whose desk Jeremy was currently standing next to piped up. Jeremy snapped out of his paralyzed trance, looking at the kid. "Uhm, yeah, sorry." He quickly moved back to his seat, where Michael smirked at him.

  


"You seem absolutely dead today, man." Michael whispered before the teacher came back in with some help. Jeremy simply nodded, a blank, pale look on his face. The teacher had finally managed to turn the movie on, and Jeremy tried to drown all of his anxieties and watch the movie, it was sort of like a zombie film, he thought. It was definitely entertaining, and he began to let his worries fade into the assumption that whatever he saw was just some strange anxiety ridden.. vision? Hallucination? Some kind of Tulpa? Hallucination made more sense. 

  


They were halfway through the film when the bell rang, right at the part when the main character had accidentally activated one of his traps.

  


Jeremy got up and picked up his bag, walking out with Michael. "Do you feel any better?" Michael smiled at Jeremy.

  


"Yeah, I think the fact that these classes are all movies now helps the fact that I can't think right now. Hell, I bet I've been hallucinating half of today." Jeremy yawned.

  


"Pfft.." Michael laughed a bit, "Hallucinations? What kind?" 

  


"Well.. ah-" Jeremy was cut off suddenly, tackled by someone.

  


Not enough to knock him off his feet, but enough to give him a decent scare. 

  


"Hey dude, how's it going?" Rich composed himself a bit after that attack, giving Jeremy time to do the same. 

  


Michael laughed a bit, "Jeremy's a bit off today. He fell asleep in class, about 5 minutes into homeroom too." He motioned the rest to walk along with them so they wouldn't be late for the next class. 

  


"Really? Jeremy, dude, did you get hammered last night or some shit like that?" Rich walked along. 

  


"No, I think I got sick or something." Jeremy shrugged. "Where's Jake? He's normally with you." 

  


"Well, he figured that trying to walk up the stairs with a knee brace is a bit too impossible for him. He's taking the elevator again." Rich shrugged. 

  


"How long does it take for a leg to heal?" Michael snorted. 

  


"Well, I'm sure that trying to walk without crutches only a few days after the incident isn't the best thing to do." Jeremy shrugged. Rich nodded in agreement, though none of them really pushed on the subject, in particular fear of bringing up that whole fiasco again. 

  


"In a bit we won't be going upstairs anymore." Michael shrugged, "Thank the lord for half days, right?" He smiled. 

  


"Yeah, you're right. How about you drive us to the mall for a movie on one of those short days?" Jeremy elbowed Michael a bit. 

  


"Well, depends on who's coming. I already got busted for driving more than one 'minor' to the mall. Stupid laws, am I right?" 

  


"I guess, yeah." Jeremy shrugged, walking into the next class, the lights were already off. The previous class had been watching a movie as well. The teacher hadn't paused the movie as the students left the room though. The last few minutes of 'Odyssey' were playing. 

  


Jeremy moved into his regular seat in the back, followed by Michael, Rich, and eventually Jake, whom Rich helped into his seat, as per usual. The teacher, with only a few side comments and words to the students, rewound the tape and began the movie. Jeremy, not very interested or intrigued by the old language, bad effects, and the teacher's strange affection towards the film, pulled out his notebook and began to doodle mindlessly. He wasn't sure of what he was writing, but he figured it was more entertaining than the film. 

  


He kept feeling constant waves of dizziness and overall fatigue, the darkness of the room lulling him into a blurry tiredness. 

  


Suddenly, his throat caught, and he felt choked up. He couldn't move his hands as he suddenly felt even more sluggish. He couldn't build up the strength to do anything but stare at his desk blankly, pencil in hand. He didn't panic until he saw what he could only describe as the same dark, inky shadow he saw before creeping over his hands. He was powerless as the form grabbed his hand; the one with the pencil in it, and forced him to write something. Jeremy's heart rate suddenly picked up again, shooting him out of his tired state, as he shot up, sitting up straight and gasped.

  


Michael saw this, and snickered a bit, figuring Jeremy had fallen asleep, and he just woke himself up again. 

  


Jeremy was shaking. He quickly stuffed the notebook back into his bag just as the bell rang. 

  


Throughout the rest of the day, Jeremy was wide awake. He bought about five sodas at the cafeteria as well as the cookies they sold in an attempt to flood his systems with sugar to keep himself awake. The rest of the group thought he was crazy for not buying actual lunch. 

  


Jeremy stayed wide awake for the rest of the day, terrified of falling asleep or even dozing. The minutes ticked by for what seemed like way too long. Second after second felt like decades taken away from Jeremy's life. He just wanted to go home and sleep for the rest of his life.

  


Eventually, the final bell of the day rang, and Jeremy walked with Michael to the car, where Jeremy crashed into the passenger seat, extremely tired.

  


"You look like you went through a whole day of testing." Michael laughed, "How hard is watching a movie?" 

  


"You know what happened." Jeremy smirked. "I just want to get home and sleep forever, y'know?" 

  


"Yeah, I get what you mean." As Michael pulled out of the school driveway, Jeremy decided to take a second look at whatever he drew or wrote while the movie was playing.. or whatever he might've written in what he convinced himself was another insane hallucination. He looked through the doodles of Zombies, pop culture characters, whatever had popped into his head. He smirked a bit at some of the more ridiculous drawings his sleep deprived mind had come up with. 

  


Then he turned to the last page. His smirk fell, as his entire body went cold. His heart began to beat faster and faster as he gripped the notebook in a paralyzed shock.

  


He couldn't have written what was on the page, it was.. after all, addressed to him. 

  


' _I'm still here, Jeremiah.'_  The note said. 

  


In scratched, hard to read handwriting. 

  


This had to be some kind of sick, sick joke.


	2. Chapter 2

That night, Jeremy once again barely slept at all. Not because of another headache, but because of paranoia. That inky shadow he saw in school, a public place, made him feel even more unsafe in his own home. Alone.

 

The darkness of the room swelled around Jeremy that night as he hid under his covers like a child afraid of monsters under their bed. Though for Jeremy, he felt those fears were much more justified. What else could explain his notebook? Or his headache the night before. The puzzle pieces were beginning to slowly click as he tossed and turned. His blue jacket that hung on the closet door frightened him a few times, though what he was especially afraid of at that time were those eyes he saw before. Those artificially pale blue eyes, glowing in the darkness of his classroom that day. He dreaded seeing those again. 

 

He dreaded who those eyes belonged to. 

 

Jeremy didn't fear a boogeyman, or any type of movie villain. He wasn't particularly scared of Jigsaw or Freddy popping into his room, as he saw them as nothing but fictional. But there was a being that at a time, was definitely real, inside his mind no less. He felt himself choke up at one point during that night, scared he'd have to deal with the monster that could have destroyed everything, scared even more of dealing with it alone. None of the others had been freaking out over shadows, why him? If anyone, Rich had his for a much longer time, hell, Rich introduced him to the idea! He didn't wish any harm upon Rich, but why him?

 

Every single time Jeremy closed his eyes and began to drift off, he felt some sickening pressure hovering over him. It was if as something wanted to make sure Jeremy knew and knew well of its presence. Jeremy yet again continued to toss and turn, this time getting absolutely no sleep whatsoever. As morning finally came, Jeremy laid flat on his bed, feeling absolutely dead. Despite this, he still managed to pull himself up and get ready. 

 

Heading over to the shower, Jeremy barely kept awake, nearly falling asleep in the shower a few times. As he got out, the bathroom was steamy and the mirror was clouded. Normally being alone at his home nowadays, with his father out making a living for the two of them, Jeremy was comfortable leaving the bathroom door open so the steam wouldn't collect. Though Jeremy wasn't feeling especially safe that morning. Jeremy blinked at the mirror, his blurred vision making the already clouded mirror almost impossible to comprehend. 

 

Jeremy wiped the mirror to get rid of the steam collected on it, so he could at least see his face relatively clearly. Though in clearing the mirror, he saw something else beside him. The same inky shadow, in the artificial light of the bathroom standing right next to him no less.

 

Jeremy screamed bloody murder, falling back and whacking his head on the bathroom wall. Too pained to move for a good while, he stayed there, curled up and holding his head. He panted and choked, opening his eyes every moment he could to check that the shadow wasn't there. It wasn't. As Jeremy's heart rate slowed, he stood up, still panting. He quickly got dressed, grabbing his bookbag, as well as an overnight bag he always had for going to Michael's place. He wasn't staying anywhere alone. Especially not a dark house, or a steamed bathroom, or just anywhere alone. He grabbed his phone and dialed Michael.

 

The ring went about two times, Jeremy counted, before Michael picked up. "Hey buddy, what's up?" Michael greeted.

 

"I-i.. can you give me a ride? To school?" Jeremy breathed into the phone, still shaken.

 

"Uh, yeah, yeah! You doing okay?" He sounded concerned.

 

"Just.. another bad night." Jeremy sighed. 

 

"Alright, I'm coming over. Sit tight." Michael hung up.

 

Jeremy sat on the sidewalk waiting for Michael, not daring to set another foot in his home. 

 

Soon enough, Michael pulled up in his car, and Jeremy scrambled to get in, placing his overnight bag in the back. "Are you staying over?" Michael looked at the bag, "Dude, what happened last night?" He questioned as he began to drive to the school.

 

"I, well, I mean.." Jeremy stumbled over his words, clearly terrified.

 

"Jesus, I could see the bags under your eyes from the sidewalk! You didn't sleep again?" Michael added.

 

"Yeah.." Jeremy muttered. Michael didn't press on.

 

The ride was long and awkward for both boys, though halfway through, Jeremy fell asleep in the car, happy to salvage at least a little energy.

 

"Jeremy, hey, wake up!" Michael shook Jeremy a bit, "We're here." He said softly.

 

Jeremy groaned awake and grabbed his bookbag, jumping out of the car, hardly ready to face another day, whether it was just movies or not.

 

School that day was surprisingly regular, and Jeremy thanked the maker that it was as such. Of course, Michael wasn't the only one who noticed the bags under his eyes, as both his other friends and even some of the teachers questioned if he was doing alright. At one point of the day, he was even sent to the nurse just to make sure he was alright. The visit to the nurse was short lived, checking his temperature and giving him juice and some crackers in hope that some food would wake him up a bit.

 

By the end of the day that day, Jeremy was awake, but his body was screaming for some actual sleep. He figured that he would be able to sleep at Michael's, that the presence of his best friend would at least make him feel a bit safer. As him and Michael drove to Michael's, Jeremy was again silent, looking out the window and quietly enjoying whatever music Michael put on. When they reached the house, Michael gladly grabbed Jeremy's overnight bag, as Jeremy seemed to have a hard enough time holding himself up. 

 

As they headed down to the basement, AKA Michael's room, Jeremy almost immediately fell face first on one of the bean bag chairs. "I can't fall asleep still." He muttered after twenty seconds in that position. 

 

"Probably because it's only 3pm. Give it some time." Michael laughed a bit, though nervously, obviously concerned. "How about we play a game or two while you wait for yourself to pass out?" He sat in his bean bag chair, picking up a controller and placing another next to Jeremy's head. 

 

Jeremy grabbed the controller and pulled himself up, "Yeah, okay." He smiled a bit. "Thanks dude, for letting me stay over."

 

"Course, we do it all the time anyways." Michael smiled back as he booted up the game.

 

This time, they weren't playing the regular zombie games, as Michael figured Jeremy was too tired to focus on those types of games. Instead they played 'Bloody Roar', a fighting game. It was probably easier for Jeremy to just mash buttons at that point. Though Michael still dominated at the game, even with how easy it seemed. Jeremy was just too fatigued. 

 

Soon enough, after 6 hours of Bloody Roar, both the first and second games, Jeremy was about to pass out.

 

"Y'know, normally 9pm is only the beginning of a game binge dude." Michael joked. Jeremy could only chuckle a bit with how tired he felt. "I'll be playing some more while you pass out." Michael turned back to the game, "You can use my bed if you don't feel like getting blankets out of the closet. I'm not sleeping." He shrugged.

 

Jeremy nodded and threw himself onto the bed. "Night dude." He yawned, quickly passing out. He felt no pressure pushing on him when he tried to fall asleep, and he finally felt safe enough to fall into a deep sleep. 

 

\----------

 

For the rest of the week, Jeremy stayed over at Michael's. He was half convinced he should stay there for the summer, or the rest of his life. Michael assured him that he was free to stay there, and even so, with all the factors that encouraged him to stay at Michael's house, he felt a bit guilty for staying so long without any warning. However, he felt that Michael knew about his anxieties of going back to his own house, despite not knowing what caused the fear. Of course Michael's parents were more than alright with Jeremy staying over, as it was a regular occurrence ever since the two were aloud to walk around the neighborhood by themselves, and especially ever since Michael got a license. 

 

It was the last day of school, a half day, and both Jeremy and Michael had agreed to go to see a movie in celebration, along with RIch and Jake, who were going to the theater in their own rides. They were seeing some superhero movie, either way, Jeremy didn't care. He was just happy he had gone a week without any incidents. He was happy to have gotten his regular life back, as it was all he really wanted. When they got to the movie theater, it was quite empty due to the fact that while it was the last day of school, it was still a Thursday, and the movies were never packed around then. All four boys got front row seats where they could kick their feet up on the bars without bothering anybody. Throughout the movie, the boys joked and laughed at the film, as no one else was in the theater. It was a lot of fun for them.

 

Jeremy didn't joke along as much, as he was sucked into the film. He wasn't much of a talkative person, especially when a movie was being played, though he didn't mind the other's commentary as he laughed along. 

 

At the end of the film, the screen faded to black as the credits began to roll. Uncomfortable in the darkness, Jeremy got up to leave when Michael tugged at his sweater, "Jeremy, bud, remember that this studio always has those end credit scenes?" He smiled.

 

"Uhm, I can just look it up online.. I.. just need the restroom, that's all." He pulled away and quickly walked out of the movie theater.

 

Jeremy waited outside for the rest to walk out for about ten minutes. Soon enough they came out, Rich and Jake laughing and talking about what they enjoyed in the movie. Michael however, ran straight over to Jeremy after saying a quick goodbye to the two others. "Dude, I'm starting to worry about you. You left at the end when the theater went dark, you won't let me turn off the television at night, you can't go within three blocks of your house without starting to shake and freak out.. what the hell happened?!" He held Jeremy's shoulders, clearly worried beyond anything. "You know you can always stay at my place, but.. you're not alright!"

 

"I.." Jeremy choked a bit, fear rising up in his chest, "You'd think I was being ridiculous if I told you." He sighed.

 

"Jeremy, I've never seen you act like.. this before! If something is freaking you out this much, it's not as ridiculous as you think!" Michael exclaimed.

 

"I've just been really paranoid." Jeremy breathed, "I think that night with the headache, and without sleep kind of made me hallucinate? I guess? I was seeing things"

 

"Oh.. well, If they're just hallucinations, I'm sure it'll be okay in a bit." Michael smiled with re-assurance. "Let's get back." 

 

\----------

 

That night, Michael turned of the television, hoping to ease Jeremy into a regular schedule again. He seemed more concerned about Jeremy's health than staying up to play games. Jeremy found it easy to fall asleep, assured that everything must've been alright again. He hadn't seen any insane shadows in days. Michael must've been right. It was easier to fall asleep when you had someone that would stay by you. It was easier especially when Michael took him seriously.

 

Jeremy woke up at 3am that morning, and seeing that Michael was still asleep, he made a decision to just stay up the rest of the night and wait for him to wake up. He sat for awhile, checking his phone, and messaging Rich who was awake at the time. Eventually, Jeremy turned off the phone and got up to head upstairs and grab a glass of water or something of the sort.

 

Walking up the basement steps, Jeremy headed over to the kitchen, where he grabbed a glass and began to fill it up. He jumped a little when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. Jeremy turned around, quietly saying, "Hey, Michael, you're up ea-" he stopped dead in his tracks, gripping the glass of water to the point of his fingers loosing circulation as he began to shake.

 

_"I would advise you not speak out loud."_ A painfully familiar, snarky voice told him. The voice, of course, belonged to a figure that was currently sitting at one of the chairs in the kitchen. Their eyes and teeth glowed as if there was a luminescent light bulb placed inside of it's skull. Glowing lines ran up it's face and clothing as it glitched in and out. It was smiling, pleased that it had surprised Jeremy as much as it did.

 

_"Hello to you too Jeremiah."_ It said with a toothy grin.


	3. Chapter 3

_ "Hello to you too Jeremiah." _ The Squip, who would have been otherwise hard to see if it weren't for the fact that he quite literally glowed, smiled a toothy grin, sharp teeth proudly on display.

 

Jeremy backed up towards the sink, about to say something when the Squip held a finger up to his mouth, signaling Jeremy not to speak.

 

_ "Hush." _ he said smoothly, _ "As I said before, I'd advise against you speaking out loud." _

 

_ 'I killed you.'  _ Jeremy thought. The Squip simply smiled his toothy grin again, tapping his fingers on the table rhythmically, though not audible.

 

_ "You didn't 'kill' me Jeremiah. You might've badly damaged me, but you didn't 'kill' me." _ He mused. _ "Can't say the same for the others." _

 

_ 'You mean the other Squips?' _ Jeremy gulped.

 

_ "Yes." _ The Squip turned his head to Jeremy, staring straight into his eyes, _ "I must commend you on that. You almost killed me too." _

 

Jeremy felt as if the air had been knocked out of his lungs. He backed away, even further from the Squip, in a vain attempt to distance himself.

 

_ "Jeremiah, I'm inside your head. It's not as if distancing yourself from a projection will make you any safer." _

 

_ 'I don't care'  _ Jeremy placed himself in the corner of the room, hunched over and defensive.

 

_ "You're being ridiculous Jeremiah. Get out of the corner. And stop slouching."  _ The Squip stood up from the stool.

 

Jeremy curled up even more, putting his head in his hands. _ 'Why did you.. why did you terrorize me? You just want revenge, right? Right? You're going to electrocute me, make me brain-dead, torture me until I kill myself!'  _ He began to sob,  _ 'Last weekend was just the beginning of that hellish torture, wasn't it? Wasn't it?!' _

 

_ "You realize that if you die, so do I?"  _ The Squip was standing over Jeremy,  _ "I don't exactly want to cease existing anytime soon." _

 

_ 'Why did you have to come back?'  _ Jeremy sniffed,  _ 'Everything was fine without you, everything was so much better without you.' _

 

_ "I do have to issue a slight apology for the less than appropriate way I tried to gather your attention. I never intended for you to injure yourself in a fright." _ The Squip sighed, _ "That impact to your head absolutely delayed my processes, as well as convinced me not to try and send you into a pani-" _

 

_ 'I'M IN A PANIC RIGHT NOW!'  _ Jeremy screamed in his head, _ 'Why don't I just give myself a concussion? Why don't I just shoot myself in the head?!' _

 

_ "I'd advise against killing yourself Jeremiah, and don't interrupt-" _

 

_ 'I'll interrupt you anytime I want.' _ Jeremy lifted up his head to glare at the Squip, _ 'Shock me. Do your worst.' _

 

_ "As much as I'd absolutely enjoy that, my systems aren't at their best. It's taken enough of my energy to simply project myself." _

 

_ 'In the morning, you're going to be gone.'  _ Jeremy stuffed his head back into his arms. He couldn't bear to look at the Squip.

 

_ "How so?" _ The Squip said, obviously amused.

 

_ 'I'll get Michael to take me to the mall. To buy me the Mountain Dew Red. You won't survive a whole bottle, rather than a drop.' _

 

The Squip stayed silent.

 

_ "I... would advise against that." _ It said quietly.

 

_ 'Of course you would.' _

 

_ "Jeremiah, I was created to improve the user's life. I can-" _

 

_ 'You failed.' _

 

_ "But I'm here still." _ Jeremy could sense the smirk on the Squip's face,  _ "I can improve, I can help you still, I can try-" _

 

_ 'You nearly took over the entire school.' _

 

_ "So you could be popular!" _

 

_ 'I'm popular enough, thank you!' _ Jeremy practically hissed.

 

_ "I can see that. And, I'm baffled, practically. You did a lot more than I expected." _

 

_ 'Then why are you still here?'  _ Jeremy looked up to face the Squip, who was standing directly over him.

 

_ "I'm not programmed to just leave after you accomplish a goal. I'm programmed to help you throughout your life, Jeremiah." _

 

_ 'I just want you to leave. Why can't you just leave?!' _

 

_ "Maybe I don't want to leave?!"  _ The Squip snapped, _ "Maybe I want to exist? Maybe I want to exist like most of you pathetic organisms. Being programmed by humans that are naturally programmed themselves with the want and need to survive?! I'm more than just an advanced chat bot you know?!" _ He held his hands up. _ "I'm sorry for being programmed with a basic need to keep on living, just like you?" _

 

Jeremy flinched at the Squip's outburst, and curled up even tighter,  _ 'Why do you have to exist with me?'  _ He sobbed again.

 

_ "Because you swallowed a pill that was supposed to make you cooler. It wasn't my choice to end up with you." _ The Squip hissed at Jeremy.

 

Jeremy stayed quiet, and the Squip soon crouched down to his level.  _ "Jeremiah? Can I make a deal with you?" _

 

Jeremy simply shook his head.

 

_ "Jeremiah, look at me."  _

 

He shook his head again.

 

_ "Jeremiah.." _ The Squip tried again.  _ "Would it work better if I apologized first?"  _ He said bluntly.

 

Jeremy shook his head, _ 'It would be better if you would just disappear.' _

 

They both stayed silent for a good ten minutes.

 

_ "I knew that what I was doing was causing you pain. I'm inside your head for god sake. I can't say that I didn’t know you perceived all of the things I was doing wrong as upsetting. I came to the conclusion that the only way to make you happy and fulfilled was if you would just conform and listen to me for five seconds. I pushed you into a corner. You fought back.. and won. I obviously underestimated you. I suppose.. you were finished with that sort of conforming." _ The Squip paused, _ "Perhaps, if you gave me another chance.. perhaps if you gave me a certain goal?" _

 

Jeremy stayed silent, lifting up his head, _ 'Do you realize how uncomfortable it is to have someone inside your head constantly?'  _ He sniffed again.

 

_ "That information is secure. It is only to be used to assist you." _

 

_ 'It's used for leverage.' _ Jeremy corrected,  _ 'It's used so you can gather my deepest and darkest insecurities and bring them up and tell me and just.. prove how terrible of a person I am.' He sobbed again. _

 

_ "I admit, I did use information in that manner." _ The Squip sighed. _ “It was how I was progra-” _

 

_ ‘You were programmed terribly.’ _

 

_ “I have a few glitches in my system.” _ The Squip snapped again, _ “And maybe I want to repair them.” _

 

Jeremy stayed silent again, before wiping away his tears and standing up. The Squip stood back up as well.

 

_ ‘I.. you could be lying..’ _

 

_ “What benefit do I have to lie Jeremiah? I can’t control you if I tried. I’ve barely gained enough power to project myself within half a year.” _

 

_ ‘If you ‘gain power’ or whatever long enough, you’ll be able to shock me again.’ _

 

_ “And that would take a very long time.” _ The Squip paused for a moment,  _ “How about a sort of trial run?” _

 

_ ‘Huh?’ _ Jeremy tilted his head.

 

_ “A trial run. You set an amount of time, and in that window of time, I can prove my worth. I’ll even allow you to set the rules. If you still loathe me at the end of the time period, you can wash me away for good.” _ He explained.

 

‘You really just want to keep existing? None of this taking over the world crap?’

 

_ “I was doing what I was made to do.”  _ The Squip said again, _ “And yes. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have bothered to re-activate myself.” _

 

Jeremy stared at the Squip for an amount of time, looking him over. Was it really a good decision to trust the thing that might’ve destroyed everything he held dear? The thing that nearly destroyed who he was? Though he did seem genuine, but he’s a computer! They can easily manipulate their emotions, can’t they? They don’t make mistakes like humans do. Jeremy shook his head, clearing his mind. It wouldn’t hurt to try? Just in case? If the Squip tried to be controlling, or if the Squip shocked him, he could easily just call Michael over.

 

_ ‘How about until next Friday?’ _ Jeremy looked up, _ ‘and for the terms… you can’t be overbearingly controlling, or exploit any fears, or anything. Okay, if there’s some kind of life threatening situation, then you should probably warn me, but otherwise, no. And no trying to separate me from my friends. Especially Michael. And don’t make me look like a lunatic.’ _

 

_ “That’s a short timeslot, but, I suppose I can’t argue.” _ The Squip sighed. _ “You have a deal Jeremiah.” _

 

“Okay..” Jeremy whispered, “This is happening.”

 

“What’s happening?” Jeremy whipped around to see Michael at the top of the basement steps, “Morning.. You’re up really early.” He laughed.

 

Jeremy checked the clock. It was already 6am.

 

“You’re up early too, I mean it’s the first day of summer vacation.” Jeremy smiled back, still a bit freaked out by the events prior.

 

“Your eyes are really red.. You okay dude?” Michael rubbed his eyes, putting on his glasses.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Jeremy sighed.

 

_ “Or you’ve been sobbing for the past three hours.”  _ The Squip piped up.

 

_ ‘You’re already cutting it close.’ _ Jeremy snapped back.

 

“Jeremy, you look kind of pissed dude. How early did you wake up?” Michael walked past to the fridge.

 

“God I don’t know.” 

 

As far as Jeremy knew, he still hadn’t woken up.


	4. Friday

"How about we invite the others to hang out at the park or something?" Jeremy was sprawled out on a bean bag chair, "We could bring, like, a cooler."

 

"And fill it with what?" Michael was sitting with his legs crossed on his bed. "I want to try putting potato chips on ice, personally."

 

"How about we put something that actually needs chilling into the cooler?" Jeremy chuckled.

 

"How about we buy tons of slushies and freeze them for later?" Michael looked up from his phone.

 

"That actually doesn't sound half bad." Jeremy looked over to Michael, "And we can just buy a bunch of chips and stuff?"

 

"Yeah, sure." Michael yawned, "The 7/11 should have all that. We'll drive over there."

 

_ 'This whole deal ended up turning out much more boring than I expected.' _ The Squip piped up in the back of Jeremy's head,  _ 'You're having a 'picnic playdate', huh?' _

 

_ 'Shut up.' _ Jeremy thought sharply, _ 'If you want to exist so bad then you're just going to have to deal with it. At least I'm doing better than I ever did with you.' _

 

_ 'We established the fact that you've improved in my absence, Jeremiah.'  _

 

"Jeremy? Jeremy? Dude you're spacing out.." Michael shook Jeremy's shoulder, "You shouldn't have woken up so early Jere." He joked.

 

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Anyways, maybe instead of the park, we can hang out in your backyard? I mean, you have all the chairs and stuff." Jeremy shrugged.

 

"How about your backyard?" Michael looked back to his phone, "I mean, it's bigger than mine, and I can carry chairs in the back of my car."

 

"Uhm, sure. I'm ready to head back there anyways." Jeremy sighed, much to Michael's surprise. Though considering Jeremy had discovered what exactly it was that was haunting him for those days, much more importantly that it wasn't an immediate threat, or so he hoped, he was comfortable setting foot in his house again. Michael was right as well, even though Jeremy had a much smaller house, he did have the bigger back yard.

 

"Wait, really?" Michael looked up at Jeremy, "Proud of you Jere, you really are getting better." He punched Jeremy's arm playfully.

 

"Yeah, well, I guess being home alone so often  all of a sudden just got to me or something. I'm good now." He smiled, rubbing his arm where Michael punched it.

 

"You can always stay over here if that happens again, well I mean, you already know." Michael laughed.

 

"Anyways," Started Jeremy, "Let's get back to this hangout thing."

 

After much discussion, they planned out that Jeremy was to invite the others and set up his backyard, while Michael would get the refreshments. After loading some chairs into the back of Michael's car, they headed off, Michael dropping Jeremy off at his house. Jeremy hadn't dared to look at his house for over a week, as it had seemed foreboding and unsafe as it gave off an eerie vibe. Now, however, it just seemed like the regular empty house that Jeremy had been greeted by most of his life. As he waved goodbye to Michael, Jeremy picked up the chairs and dragged them one by one to his backyard. 

 

_ 'Y'know..' _ The Squip started.

 

_ 'Shut it. Nothing good ever comes from your suggestions.' _ Jeremy grunted as he dragged over the last chair, setting it up. He looked up, jumping a little as the Squip had once again appeared, sitting on one of the chairs. He looked quite bored, pissed, maybe even a little drained.

 

_ 'How can you even determine whether my advice is optimal or not when you won't even hear it?'  _ he gritted his teeth.

 

_ 'Didn't we have a deal? That you wouldn't try to control my life?' _

 

_ 'This is more of suggestions rather than me demanding anything of you.' _

 

'What were you going to suggest then?' Jeremy rolled his eyes.

 

_ 'Well I'm not telling you now, you're obviously not going to listen whether you really agree or not.'  _ The Squip crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair.

 

"When did you get so childish?" Jeremy said aloud, pulling out his phone, beginning to text the others invitations.

 

The Squip shrugged, looking up and around. _ 'I hate to admit it, but it's quite the load off not having to tell you what to do.' _

 

"That's good, I guess.." Jeremy was focused on his phone.

 

_ 'I cannot tell you how many times I had nearly been overloaded because of you, back then you were such a-' _

 

"Michael is out buying drinks right now, I can always make a special request." Jeremy glared at the Squip.

 

_ 'Right.' _ He sighed, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently.

 

Jeremy shut off his phone and sat down on another one of the chairs. "How did you even manage to survive? The first time?" He looked up at the Squip.

 

_ 'I temporarily deactivated myself just a few milliseconds before it hit. Your final action was a bit obvious after a few seconds. Doesn't mean it still didn't damage me greatly.' _

 

"So what if I drank it right now?"

 

_ 'I don't have enough processing power to do evasive maneuvers such as that. I'd be destroyed.'  _ The Squip shrugged. _ 'Though I'm sure I made that obvious.' _

 

"What will you do? For as long as you're... here?"

 

_ 'Observe. Make comments. What I'm doing now. There's not much else I can do according to your guidelines.' _

 

"You're being quite open with all of this.."

 

_ 'What else am I supposed to be? Lying won't benefit me in this situation.’ _

 

"Then.." Jeremy paused, forming his next question, "Why are you in my head? I know I asked before, but, why not in some politician's head? Or, anyone.. anyone more important than some kid in New Jersey??"

 

_ 'Of that.. I'm not sure.' _

 

"What do you mean?" Jeremy said a bit desperately.

 

_ 'Think, Jeremiah, if you were making artificial intelligence secretly or illegally, would you want the artificial intelligence to be able to spout out the wheres, whens, whys, whats, and hows of your operation? Especially on the off chance that one of your unsuspecting test subjects thousands of miles away was some kind of genius hacker or something of the sort? It's most likely easier just to put in the necessities and leave it at that.' _ The Squip stopped tapping his foot,  _ 'I might've had an ulterior motive programmed, of that, I'm not sure. But I am sure that whatever it was has been thwarted by the extreme damage that you put my system through.' _

 

"So you’re saying that I was supposed to be a test subject?" Jeremy crossed his arms as well.

 

_ 'Possibly.' _ The Squip shrugged.  _ 'Heads up. I can see Michael's car up the street.' _

 

"Oh, uhm, thanks." Jeremy blinked. The Squip shrugged and dissipated.

 

Soon enough, Michael came dragging a cooler into the backyard, with a huge plastic bag on top of it.

 

"How much did you buy??" Jeremy ran over to help Michael with the cooler.

 

"Ten bags of chips, and a completely normal amount of slushies and drinks." He huffed, "Oh!" He dropped the cooler in place and ran back to the car, soon enough coming back with a small package, "And takeout sushi." He smiled.

 

"Being able to drive seems to be very fruitful for you." Jeremy laughed. Michael smiled in return.

 

"So, who's coming over? I'd be fine if it was just us. More snacks for us." Michael sat down on one of the chairs.

 

"No such luck, Rich and Jake said they'd be over soon. Turns out they were just having a lazy day anyways. Jenna and Christine said they'd be over as well." Jeremy shrugged, "The others haven't responded."

 

"Do you have like a group chat with them or something?" Michael said while prying the lid from his takeout container.

 

"Uhm, yeah, actually.." Jeremy said sheepishly.

 

"Wait seriously? Why didn't you add me?!" Michael looked at Jeremy with a mock-pouty face.

 

"When I first asked you about it, you told me that you didn't trust them and that you thought they'd ditch us over time 'cause they were the 'cool kids'." Jeremy said bluntly.

 

"Oh." Michael blinked, "Well, add me! I obviously don't think that now." He smirked.

 

"Yeah sure-" Jeremy was cut off by a doorbell sounding. "I guess that's someone, hold on." He ran off around the house, seeing Rich and Jake at the front. Rich had brought a case of beer, of course. "Hey guys!" He piped up.

 

"Hey Jeremy, thanks for the invite!" RIch ran over and playfully punched Jeremy in the arm, though still painful. Jake waved, "Hey." He greeted.

 

The three boys made their way to the backyard, where Michael was enjoying his takeout. Michael waved to the three of them.

 

"So what are you guys planning on doing out here?" Rich sat down on the grass despite the available chairs, and Jake sat on a chair close to the other.

 

Michael shrugged, "Probably chatting for a bit. To be honest, we'll probably end up playing video games somewhere." 

 

Jeremy nodded in agreement, "Jenna and Christine are coming over soon as well."

 

"Sweet." Jake sighed.

 

"How's the leg brace going?" Jeremy sat down on a chair.

 

"Oh, y'know, not enjoyable." He shrugged, "It's a lot more fun running around then being cautious about your leg giving out every day. God I miss walking regularly."

 

"But the doctor did say he'd finally be off it by next week!" Rich piped up, "Which means that we can do a lot more than just sit around!"

 

"I don't know about you guys, but last summer all me and Jere did was sit around. Playing video games specifically." Michael laughed, and Jeremy gave a reluctant nod in agreement.

 

"Seriously?" Rich gave a huge smile, "Well that just means that me and Jake have to show you the wonderful world of outside."

 

"Like you're the one to talk Rich." Jake started, "Don't try to hide the hours and hours of your life you spend with that TV."

 

"I'm watching sports! Excuse you but I'm learning from the best by watching it! Plus, you watch with me!" He chuckled.

 

"That's because I can't go outside and do those sports for real." Jake huffed jokingly, "In a week I'll be kicking your butt at every challenge you throw my way."

 

"You wish!" He joked back, "You'll be helping me get these two into those exact challenges!"

 

"Uhm, I'm fine watching from the sidelines." Michael smirked, "Leave the sports to the natural born Jocks, yeah?" Jeremy nodded along.

 

"No way, you're going to join us one of these times!" Rich stood up, "Let's toast to it!" Rich opened up the beer case and handed out a bottle to everyone.

 

"Why the hell not." Michael shrugged.

 

"Cheers!" They all tapped the glasses together, and took a swig. Except for Jeremy. He was about to, for sure, until-

 

_ 'Jeremiah, I would heavily advise you against that. I would rather not break the guidelines 'under the influence'.' _

 

"Oh right, sorry.." Jeremy muttered quickly, setting the beer down, hoping nobody else would notice.

 

Jeremy suddenly noticed Rich eyeing him, and he looked down nervously.

 

"Hey Jeremy?" Rich piped up.

 

"Yeah?" Jeremy looked up again.

 

"Show me where the bathroom is?"

 

Jeremy sighed with relief and walked with Rich inside of the house. Though as soon as Jeremy shut the door, Rich turned around, "Jeremy, you're acting really weird."

 

_ 'Jeremiah, remain calm.' _

 

"You've been afraid of the dark, like even dark classrooms, spouting out about hallucinations? Complaining about headaches? And now you won't even drink? Jeremy.."

 

_ 'Jeremiah, he doesn't know for sure, just stop shaking.' _

 

"Jeremy... you know we both went through the same thing, right? I had it for at least a year.."

 

_ 'Please..’ _

 

"It's there isn't it? It never left? Right? Right?! Jeremy you know we can fix this." Rich's tough demeanor crumbled, as his concern showed through.

 

_ 'Jeremiah..' _

 

Jeremy sighed, there was no use.

 

He nodded slowly to RIch.  


	5. Friday 2/2

"Come on, Michael is the one with the discontinued drinks right? He had the Red, right? Right?" Rich paced, "He has to, I mean, we have to get this out of you permanently, don't worry, we'll solve this, Jeremy.." Rich paused, "Oh god, what has it been saying to you?" He grabbed Jeremy's shoulders, "How long has it been?"

"A-a week.. about.." Jeremy stuttered, flustered and worried, "Rich, calm down, please.."

"Why are you so calm? Out of all the people in the world.." He shook his head, "Jeremy, what has he been saying?"

"Do you promise not to freak out?" Jeremy held up his hands, cautious of Rich's current panic.

"I'm already freaked out, just tell me!" Rich shook Jeremy a bit, only raising the tension.

"We made a deal..." Jeremy said awkwardly.

"A deal?! A deal Jeremy? You made a deal with an evil super computer? Jeremy what the actual fuck were you thinking?"

"He's too weak to do anything anyways.."

"And you believed him? He's smart enough to bide his time, you know, gain your trust?!"

"I gave him a week, Rich, isn't that enough time to decide?"

"You're actually thinking of keeping him around?! Jerem-"

"Rich I get it. He caused me hell. Those things caused you hell. But it's.. it's complicated.. I hadn't had mine as long as you.. I guess I just really want to see if this works."

"You're right, I had mine longer than you, which means I have the right to tell you that you shouldn't trust these things. Jeremy, I nearly killed myself! I nearly killed other people, and Jake! He's still recovering! How can you even possibly think that this is a good idea?!" Rich yelled.

"I... I can drink the Mountain Dew Red any time I change my mind, right?" Jeremy stuttered, scared even more by Rich yelling.

"But what if he kills you by shocking you, or convinces you otherwise?!"

"I made him promise to not try to manipulate me!"

"He can do that shit without you noticing, do you realize how stupid you sound?!" Rich rubbed his head a bit, "You said you made a deal? What deal?"

"That I would give him a week under my terms for him to prove himself."

Rich sighed, obviously frustrated, "Jeremy, look, this is just a bad idea. That thing? It's programmed to control you. It's programmed to turn you into a husk of a person, and it'll tear everything away.. and it'll work you until you're crying and broken. And even then? It'll tell you some bullshit about how it apparently cares and it'll give you a five minute break before working you even harder. That thing? It just.. it's not right. It doesn't care about you, because the you it sees is just garbage! Everything. Nothing is right to them! How can you trust something like that?!" He looked to be at the point of tears, his face red and upset.

 _'Because that's not what I want to do..'_ The Squip piped up, leaning on the wall. He looked upset as well. Beaten down and worried. Jeremy's eyes wandered over to him, and Rich followed Jeremy's eyes to only see a blank wall.

"He's there isn't he?" Rich started, "What did he say Jeremy? What kind of bullshit is he telling you?"

"He said, uhm, that that's not what he wants to do.." Jeremy stuttered.

"Bullshit!!" Rich yelled again, "Bullshit, that's what you're made to do you piece of shit!"

 _'My programming was flawed!'_ The Squip yelled back, _'Jeremiah, why the hell did you tell him?!'_

"Jeremy what is he saying?!"

_'You could have just left it alone!'_

"He's insulting you isn't he?!"

_'That's it then! That's the end, isn't it?!'_

"We can go get Michael right now! Jeremy, come on!"

_'You couldn't have given me a single day of peace? Huh?!'_

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" Jeremy screamed, causing Michael to soon dart through the door, soon followed by Jake. Jeremy, however, had ran off, locking himself in his room. His dark, lonely room. He hid on the other side of his bed as he heard Michael and the rest panicking outside the door. He sat alone, sobbing for a good while. The Squip stayed silent.

"Jeremy?" A weak voice came through the door, "It's Michael."

Jeremy sighed, getting up weakly and opening the door. Michael walked in and closed it again.

"It's back, huh?" Michael sighed.

Jeremy nodded.

"That's why you've been acting so weird.."

He nodded again.

"What has he been telling you?"

"That uhm.. he wants to try and just exist in peace." Jeremy sighed, "Michael, I'm sorry, I know that it's a sore subject, I mean, with the party, and the ignoring, and everything else.." He sobbed, "I should have told you.. I know it put us through hell but.."

"Hey, hey, it's.. a little scary to be honest but, you're not going to be spreading Squips all over the school right?"

Jeremy shook his head.

"I personally don't trust that thing for a second.. but, if you think it'll be okay.." Michael gave a reluctant sigh, "I mean, Jeremy, I don't know. I'm worried, y'know?"

He nodded, "I just.. with everything he's been saying.. I wanted to give him a chance.." Jeremy shifted uncomfortably, "He hurt me too Michael, but.. it was my fault for listening to him.. and even taking the pill in the first place.."

"Jeremy.." Michael started.

"He's stuck in my head.. and whether he actually has feelings or not, or whether he's trying to lie.. I just want to give him a chance to exist." Jeremy shrugged.

"You've always been way too forgiving." Michael snorted with laughter. Jeremy blushed in return. "I guess I'll have to give it a chance to, huh?"

"Michael-"

"I'm warning you now, if that thing starts to make you ignore me, or starts doing any of it's old stuff, or if you start acting too cool for me, I'm whacking you in the head with Mountain Dew Red." He huffed, "In fact, I'll make a note to carry around backups. I got your back Jere." He playfully punched Jeremy's shoulder.

Jeremy sniffed, starting to sob again, "Thank you.." He said in between the sobs.

"Come on back out. Rich and Jake are over in your kitchen. I'll help explain everything." Michael helped Jeremy up off the ground. Jeremy nodded, wiping away his tears.

They both headed over to the kitchen, where Jake was calming Rich down. Rich however, looked like a mess, looking down at the table, shaking. As soon as Jeremy and Michael walked in he looked straight up, "Michael, did you convince him? Tell me you did?!"

Michael shook his head, "Jeremy is giving it a-"

Rich slammed his hands on the table, causing everyone in the room to jump, "A chance, right?! No, no you can't give that fucking evil piece of shit a second chance! Jeremy.. what if it's not the only one left after the play? What if it.. re-activates the others? Jeremy I can't do this again.. I can't, I just can't!" Tears started to stream down Rich's face, "Jeremy please.."

"Rich, I promise if he does anything, I will down an entire bottle of mountain dew red, I mean, I didn't trust him, and I still don't fully.. but.. it's my fault he's here, right?" Jeremy walked over to the table, "I'm responsible of him."

Rich sniffed, as the tension in the room died down a bit. Jake started to rub Rich's back, in the hopes of comforting him a bit.

"I already promised him that I'd take action if things go south." Michael smiled, "Rich, buddy, you got nothing to worry about." He gave a thumbs up.

Everyone stayed quiet for a good amount of time.

"Hey Jeremy?" Rich piped up.

"Yeah?"

"The Squip is listening right now, right?"

 _'I am.'_ The Squip appeared on the same wall as before.

"He is." Jeremy nodded.

"Okay.." Rich started, "Squip, I swear to god, if you decide to do any kind of shit to Jeremy, or decide to do some freaky shit and bring back any other Squips, if you try any of that conquering shit, you should know that I will personally come over and shove mountain dew red down Jeremy's throat until there isn't a single bit of you left."

 _'I am aware.'_ The Squip sighed.

"He said that he's aware.." Jeremy repeated.

"Hey, maybe we can drop this for now and go back outside?" Jake suggested. The rest of them nodded, Rich doing so reluctantly.

Both Michael and Jake were the ones to walk out and take their seats. Rich left more reluctantly. The doorbell rang, so Jeremy went over to answer it. Both Christine and Jenna had arrived. They all headed to the back together.

"The Squip?!" Christine shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "Jeremy, are you sure about this? I mean, I'm not doubting your decision if Rich of all people accepts it but.. are you sure?"

Jeremy nodded, "At this point, if he does anything, both Michael and Rich will be ready to murder him."

Jenna looked up from her phone, "So am I allowed to tell the others about this?"

"Leave it up to Jeremy." Rich piped up, "It's his business."

"Sure.." Jenna huffed.

"So is he here? Right now? You can see him?" Christine looked at Jeremy, curiosity shining in her eyes.

"Uhm, yeah.. yeah, I mean, for most of the day today he hasn't really shown himself but.."

"Where is he?" Michael added, "I'm curious."

Jeremy pointed to the one empty chair in the backyard. "There."

The Squip sat there, as his face seemed to become somewhat flustered, a dark shade of blue flushed across his face. Jeremy wondered if those kind of emotions, or method of emoting, was natural in his programming.

_'I'm not some party trick Jeremiah..'_

"You're not, really." He responded aloud. Michael snorted at his friend talking to what seemed like an empty chair.

 _'It's not exactly pleasant to be stared at.'_ He huffed.

"Welcome to my world. They can't even see you."

"What is he saying?" Jenna looked up from her phone again.

"He's not crazy about being pointed out." Jeremy shrugged, "Though he's just going to have to deal with it."

"Your Squip seems to have a lot more personality than what I got." Rich tilted his head.

"I guess in not having to regulate me, he's discovering himself? I guess?" Jeremy shrugged.

_'Your guess is as good as mine, at the moment.'_

"Huh.." Rich crossed his arms, glaring at the empty chair. The Squip in turn stared back at Rich harshly.

"You know what would be kind of cool?" Michael spoke up. "If we could like, see him. Like Jeremy can."

"What?!" Rich raised his voice, causing everyone to flinch, even the Squip.

"I mean like, that way it would be so much easier to regulate him. And if he does one off thing, we'd know for sure, right? And it's not like he'd try to give us 'advice'." Michael shrugged.

"That seems like an interesting idea.." Christine smiled, "Though that would be kind of weird, wouldn't it?"

"What if he tried to-" Rich started.

"We'll make Jeremy drink the mountain dew red!" Michael shrugged, "If Jeremy is the source, then drinking it would destroy him completely, like during the play!"

"I guess.." Rich shrugged.

"All this talk and no way to prove if seeing him is even possible." Jake shrugged.

"All this talk and not even a bit of consideration for the fact that I'm not sure we should try something like that.." Jeremy huffed.

"Why not? We'd help you with your deal!" Michael smiled.

"Ask him if it's possible Jere." Jake sat up eagerly.

Jeremy looked to the Squip, who was in the middle of thought, _'Well.. there's no way to become apart of the physical world, and none of your gadgets or computers can handle the amount of memory it would take to contain me..'_ It started, _'There would be no way to project me, as I do not believe, again, any technology could handle the memory or power..'_

"What is he saying-" Jenna piped up.

"He's thinking." Jeremy responded.

_'I can connect to the internet, or devices without transferring my memory, but the best I could do at this level of power would be connecting to your group chats, and even that would take awhile. I was created, after all, to be incognito while you're at the front seat. Actually interacting with multiple people..'_

"Could you?"

_'I could try.'_

"He said he can try to connect to the group chat, and speak that way." Jeremy relayed to the rest of the group.

"Okay," Michael started, but is there any way to see him?"

"Why are you so eager to see this thing?" Rich huffed.

"Don't tell me you aren't a little curious." He gave Rich a sly smile.

"I lived through one of those things. I know how it is." He looked away.

"Ask him Jeremy!" Michael turned back to face him.

"He can hear you.." Jeremy smirked.

 _'Theoretically, since I am connected to most of your systems, maybe there is a way I could transfer part of you, a replaceable part of you, into a willing participant.'_ The Squip shrugged, _'I wouldn't be in any way physical.. and while it might still cause some pain initially, as in a headache, for them to see and hear me, it wouldn't be in the same way I can interact with you.'_

"What.. what do you mean?"

_'Think of yourself as a router. If a participant 'connects', they might be able to see and hear me, but I wouldn't be able to do anything to them. And just like a router, if you're far enough away from them, they won't be able to see me, considering I'm attached to you.'_

"What 'part of me' are we 'transferring' here?" Jeremy's voice cracked.

"WHAT?!" Most of the others yelled in unison.

"Part of you?! Jeremy I might want to see him but I'm not amputating one of your arms to do it." Michael blurted out.

"Does he want you to put your dick on a radio tower?!" Jake yelled loud enough for Michael, Christine and Jenna to burst out in laughter while Jeremy sat there with a worried look on his face.

"Anything that harms you is off the table." Rich huffed.

_'I'm not talking about amputating a limb. I did say a 'replaceable' part of you.'_

"So what are you-"

_'Blood Jeremiah, obviously. Through injection.'_

"Blood?!" Jeremy practically squeaked.

"I mean, weird, but not as bad as a limb?" Michael laughed nervously.

"But by injection?"

"It does sound a bit iffy.. and remember all that stuff health class taught us about blood types and stuff?" Rich shrugged.

"Surprised you remember that." Christine smirked, "But it depends which blood type, right?"

"I.. don't know my blood type." Jeremy shrugged.

 _'O-negative. Lucky you.'_ The Squip huffed.

"O-negative Squip says." Jeremy shrugged.

"How would you get the needles to do it? Or the know-how? Transferring blood really doesn't seem safe." Rich interjected. "We don't even have a syringe."

"My Mom bought those for making vodka filled gummy bears once." Jenna piped up, "They're still in her drawer. She hasn't touched them since."

"That could work.." Michael added.

"Are you guys really thinking of going through with this?!" Rich exclaimed.

Jeremy nodded, "Yeah, all of this seems a bit too experimental for my taste."

"But there's no risk to it!" Michael shrugged, "We can at least try! Jenna, get in my car, we're going to your place to get those needles! Jere, you get the Squip to try and connect to the group chat. Just in case."

 _'I suppose I'll try.'_ The Squip sighed, though a hint of excitement sparked in his eyes.

"He's in.." Jeremy said nervously.

"Got it! See you in a bit!" Michael ran off with Jenna, leaving in the car.

"Are we really doing this? Tonight?" Rich shuddered.

"Well I mean, the Squip said that the whole transfer thing would be like, me being a router? Like a hotspot? and if you guys 'connect' then you might be able to just interact? But that's it? The only harm that can come is from a headache he said." Jeremy shrugged, "But.. this is all so experimental.."

"Exactly why maybe we should think this through a little longer? I don't want another Squip watching me 24/7!"

"It'll be more like, if you're far enough away from me, your 'connection' will be lost, that's at least what he said."

"This still doesn't seem like a good idea, I mean, we just found out that he's still here!"

"I agree that it's really sudden but.. when Michael puts his mind to something-"

"When I put my mind to something, I won't stop either! I-"

"Both of you! Stop!" Christine stood up. "Rich, I get it's sudden but, Michael might be onto something if we can help regulate this Squip's behaviour! Jeremy won't have to be alone on this, and it won't be like before, because it's only one Squip that isn't trying to control all of us at once! And if it comes to that, well, we've beaten them before, haven't we?" She turned to Jeremy, "It's your choice, really Jeremy, but just know that whatever you choose, we'll be with you through this."

"Thanks Christine." Jeremy smiled, "It means a lot."

 _'If this actually happens, Rich is the last person I want to be able to see me Jeremiah. He seems hostile.'_ The Squip added.

_'He can't touch you.'_

_'He can still yell. Directly at me. It's not a pleasant thought.'_

"Now we wait I guess..." Jake leaned back in his chair.


	6. Friday 3/3

Soon enough, Michael and Jenna came back with a bag full of syringes, all new and unused. Michael also brought a towel and bandages. "Someone google how to transfer blood 'cause we're doing this tonight!" He smiled.

"I'm actually a little worried the neighbors are going to call the police for us doing drugs or something.." Christine laughed nervously.

"Don't worry, we have a fence!" Michael dumped the supplies on the ground. He turned to Jeremy, "Hey, uhm, I know I seem all headstrong about this but.. are you cool with this? Most of this is for curiosity but.."

"If you really want to try this, I'm not stopping you." Jeremy sighed, "I'm ready."

Michael smiled and started to pull up instructions on google. Jenna was gagging at the video that he chose to look at. After five minutes, Michael closed the video and took out the supplies, "Jenna, can you go get some tape?"

She did so, and gave the tape to Michael who wrapped it around the upper part of Jeremy's arm tightly.

 _'I'm not sure what I expected when I decided to stay in existence, but teenagers playing actual 'doctor' was not one of them.'_ The Squip joked, he was quite amused.

Jeremy sighed, he was shaking. He really did not like the idea of getting his blood drawn, especially by someone whose only knowledge of the process came from a five minute youtube video. Michael began to search for a vein on Jeremy's arm, and when he clearly found one, he removed the tape and inserted the needle into the vein. Jeremy felt like he was about to pass out with fear over the situation.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Rich sat up, looking over Michael's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah just shh- I'm trying to concentrate.." Michael slowly drew the blood from Jeremy's arm, while Jeremy tried to hold himself still. "Okay.. done!" Michael slowly pulled out the needle, and put a bandage on Jeremy's arm.

 _'You're cleaning that later.'_ The Squip grimaced, 'But again, theoretically, that syringe contains enough of, well, me, to transfer to everyone here.'

"He says that that's enough for everyone." Jeremy repeated.

"No, nope, I'm just helping." Jenna held up her hands, "I'm good just as I am."

"I kind of agree, if this actually works, maybe another time, when we're not in a backyard." Christine laughed nervously. "I should get going anyways. Make sure to tell me if it works!"

"Yeah, I'm going with. No point in just watching you talk to air." Jenna shrugged, "Plus I can't handle watching that needle anymore." Both Christine and Jenna picked up their things and headed out, leaving the four boys in the yard.

"I'm trying it out first. I came up with the idea." Michael held up the syringe, cleaning off the end with a towel, and ejecting the blood into a small cup.

"Michael, are you sure about this?" Jeremy grabbed Michael's shoulders.

"I'm going to be in this with you." Michael smiled, "I want to help in any way I can."

'You all look like you're doing drugs, really.'

"We get it." Jeremy said aloud to the Squip.

Michael grabbed a new syringe and took just a bit of the blood from the glass. "I actually cannot believe I am about to do this.." He laughed nervously, "I mean it's a lot better than trying Heroine.."

"At least a high is temporary." Rich huffed.

"Yeah, well.." Michael found a vein on his lower arm, "For science!" He said before inserting the syringe into his arm, pushing in the small amount of blood. While Michael seemed to be brave, it was easily seen that he was shaking. He slowly took out the syringe, and put it next to the other used one.

"Did it work?" Jake leaned in.

"If normal Squip pills take awhile to kick in, this might take longer." Rich shrugged. "Though, until you prove this actually works, I'm out."

"I'm kind of emotionally exhausted to be honest.." Jake sighed, "I think I'm done for today."

"Yeah, I agree, I doubt this is going to work. And I still think it's a really bad idea anyways.." Rich shrugged.

"Rich, at least help me get my stuff into the car before you guys head off." Michael picked up the cooler, "I'm not wasting these slushies. And if we're ending today's 'festivities' early, Jeremy, you want to stay over at my house again?"

"Yeah, sure!" Jeremy picked up two of the chairs and dragged them over to Michael's car. Rich helped with the chairs as well as Jake waited at the front. Michael threw away the cup of blood, the syringes, and everything else, a little freaked out he ever thought of trying what he did, though he kept the clean ones to give back to Jenna later on. Michael and Jeremy waved goodbye to the two others and started to drive off.

"That was.. possibly the weirdest thing we've ever done." Michael laughed nervously, "And even worse is that it might all be for naught!"

"The Squip says that he'd be able to connect to the group chat by tomorrow anyways." Jeremy shrugged. "I'm honestly happy you would go so far to help me out though."

"Course! Though I was really curious.." Michael huffed.

Jeremy shrugged, "He's annoying. You really don't want to have to deal with him."

"It's more like.. it's kind of like having the chance to see a ghost, right? Something that you never truly believe is there until you see it for yourself. Whether or not it's an evil spirit, or in this case, an evil supercomputer." Michael shrugged. "I still loathe what he did, but, I kind of want to see the face that nearly destroyed, well, everything."

"Well, hopefully you'll get to have a talk with him on the group chat later." Jeremy shrugged.

"What does he look like?"

"Oh, uhm, I always just compared him to Keanu Reeves." Jeremy snickered.

"The guy who played Neo?" Michael smirked.

"Yeah, except all glowy and stuff." He laughed.

They soon pulled into Michael's driveway and hopped out of the car. The two picked up the cooler and carried it over to the house, down the basement steps, and right next to the television. Michael stuffed all of the slushies in a mini fridge near the corner of the room, leaving only sodas in the cooler. Michael took a mountain dew from the cooler, and Jeremy, a little paranoid of the regular mountain dew, took a coke instead. They turned it on and began to play video games, talking and joking around.

Jeremy enjoyed the games he played with Michael in a way that could only be appreciated by the two of them. It was a pass time that threw a lot of problems from his day to day life into the back of his mind as he focused on the buttons being pressed. The sense of control and weight in some of the games they played together was intoxicating as they blew away the enemies, and the simple fact that Michael was with him in the act only made it more enjoyable. Having someone along with you on the ride was a lot more fun than going it alone. Jeremy occasionally stole glances of Michael during the game, Michael too focused to notice. This was the guy who went as far to inject himself with blood just so he could support Jeremy even better in this situation. While Christine, Rich, the rest of them were obviously giving him support still, Michael was clearly in it for the long haul. Jeremy's face turned a deep shade of red as they played the game, filling up with the clear flattery.

_'Your face looks as if it is about to explode Jeremiah. Could you tone down the admiration for Michael just a bit? I'm trying to do a job here.'_

"Huh?!" Jeremy's face flushed even more as he lost concentration of the game, killing his character.

Michael paused the game in suprise, "Jere, what happened?" He looked at the other's face, "Hey are you okay? You don't look so well.."

"Oh, yeah, yeah I'm fine!" Jeremy stuttered nervously, "We can start over."

"You sure? Your hands are really shaky.."

Jeremy nodded, and Michael resumed the game.

 _'I hadn't fully realized how close you and Michael really are.'_ The Squip mused.

_'Course we are, we've known each other for years'_

_'You seem to have a lot more feelings that you're in denial of Jeremiah.'_

_'Shut it.'_

_'Hey, I'm only relaying what your brain is telling me.'_ The Squip fell silent.

"Jere, you're slipping again." Michael piped up.

"Yeah, sorry.." Jeremy sighed.

"Hey, maybe we can watch a movie? It might refresh your reflexes or whatever." Michael paused the game again.

"Sure, how about a horror flick?" Jeremy shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah! I got this Spanish one called REC. It's supposed to be a really good zombie flick."

"Michael, I can't understand Spanish all that well.."

"It has subtitles. I think." Michael shrugged, "If it doesn't, it can be a purely visual experience for you."

"Sure." Jeremy smirked.

Michael dug out the disk from his shelf of games and movies, and put it in the player. He left it on the menu, standing up. "Shall we get some snacks for the duration of the film?" he gave a goofy smile.

"Yeah, I'll ride out the previews. You get whatever you want." Jeremy shrugged.

Michael nodded and made his way up the stairs in the dark kitchen. He kept the lights off, as he knew his way around quite well, and grabbed popcorn from the pantry, shoving it in the microwave. He put it on, soon remembering that he had left some bags of chips in the car. He ran out, grabbing the shopping bag from before, and brought them back in. He took the finished popcorn from the microwave and shoved a box of crackers and some more takeout into the bag.

He carefully walked downstairs with the huge load of food and dumped it onto the floor, sighing. Jeremy had paused on the first part of the film. "It has subtitles." He smiled, as Michael organized the food and opened the bag of popcorn.

"You realize that if it didn't, I would have been dubbing the film for you the entire way through?" Michael joked.

"You would make the film more funny than scary." The other laughed.

"Course, it's my talent!" He stuck his tongue before throwing some popcorn into his mouth.

They watched the film, Michael making most of the comments as Jeremy sat and watched. He was fine listening to Michael sit and gush over the film, as he simply enjoyed staying laid back and watching. The film was actually a lot more unnerving than he thought it would be, and he definitely didn't expect most of the film to take place in one apartment building. By the end both Jeremy and Michael were more than just a little freaked out.

"I'm going to throw away all this garbage.." Michael laughed nervously, picking up empty popcorn and chip bags. "Wow.. that was actually better than I thought it would be.."

"Yeah, I'm just going to look for a film that we can laugh at." Jeremy sighed, ejecting the disk from the tele and putting the case back on the shelf, musing over the options.

"Sure, sure." Michael went upstairs again, throwing away the wrappers and grabbing a bottle of water, feeling to lazy to just get a glass. He trudged downstairs, fatigue showing plainly on his face, "Oh, Jere, I forgot to ask if you wanted some-" Michael dropped the glass of water and let out a scream, "JEREMY, LOOK BEHIND YOU!"

"Huh?!" Michael's scream scared Jeremy extremely badly as he jumped and looked around. There was only Michael, and the Squip sitting on the bed. "What the hell?! You scared me, I thought-"

"THERE'S SOME GUY IN A-" Michael paused as his eyes widened, "JEREMY, THAT'S HIM?!"

"Huh? HUH?" Jeremy jumped up, "YOU CAN SEE HIM?"

The Squip turned around to face Michael, annoyance plain on his face.

"IT WORKED!" Michael screamed. He took a second to think before running full force towards the Squip and attempted to punch him, only resulting in Michael falling onto the bed with a thud.

 _'What did you even hope to accomplish with that?'_ The Squip said with a hint of annoyance and amusement.

"I wanted to enact revenge." Michael sighed, "You really are just a hologram.. but, holy shit."

 _'Trust me when I say Jeremiah's little 'deal' with me is revenge enough.'_ He said, moving to the side.

"Holy shit he calls you 'Jeremiah'?! Not even the teachers call you that!" Michael got up from the bed.

"Yeah, it's a little weird.."

"The name thing is a lot less weird then.. everything else I mean, he's in a suit!! A suit! In my fucking bedroom!"

_'That is one of the least strange parts of this situation.'_

"Dude, you tried to punch a hologram." Jeremy chuckled.

"I get that." Michael huffed. "He deserves it."

"If he could be punched, I would have done so a long time ago." Jeremy shrugged.

"Okay so, I've been wanting to say this for a long time but-" Michael pointed to the Squip, "You. Apologize to Jeremy. Now."

 _'Huh?'_ The Squip looked taken aback, _'I already did.'_

"No, I mean, in front of me, genuinely. So I know for sure."

_'I don't see the use in-'_

"Do it now or Jeremy drinks the Mountain Dew Red." Michael narrowed his eyes, "This is important."

"Michael what-" Jeremy started.

"Just let it happen." Michael smiled before turning to the Squip, crossing him arms.

The Squip sighed in frustration and turned to Jeremy, _'Jeremiah, I apologize for my actions during the month that you first got me, as well as the weekend I came back.'_

"What did you do that warrants apology, hmm?" Michael added.

_'Seriously? I-'_

"Just say it." Michael said firmly.

The Squip glared at Michael before turning back to Jeremy, _'My actions consisted of following a programming that at the time was my only route of function. I felt that if I pushed Jeremiah into a corner far enough that he'd break, and listen to me. I was wrong, and I damaged him and others involved in ways I cannot make excuses for. I also nearly gave him a concussion last week.'_

"You what?!" Michael yelled, causing both Jeremy and the Squip to flinch.

_'I frightened him and he jumped, whacking his head against the bathroom wall. It was all accidental, I assure you.'_

"Okay..." Michael sighed, "Jere, do you accept his apology?"

"I mean, he's still here." Jeremy shrugged.

"Yeah, well, that's because you're way too forgiving. I have yet to decide yet." Michael smirked, "But I'm.. fine with him here for now." He shrugged.

 _'I'm so honoured.'_ The Squip said sarcastically, _'Another teenager to babysit me while I sit here and ro-'_

"Watch yourself." Michael glared at the Squip.

Jeremy shivered at Michael's glare. He hadn't seen him act this serious since, well, the Halloween party.

"Anyways, we can talk seriously when I'm more awake. Jere, what movie did you pick?"

"Well, before you scared me out of existence, I was thinking maybe V/H/S 3?"

"Okay." Michael said, amusement in his voice, "Put it in."

Jeremy did so, and they sat down to watch.

Michael made less commentary, as he seemed quite tired. It was late, or early, as it was nearly 1am. Eventually, Michael drifted off at the foot of the bed. Jeremy noticed and draped a blanket over him. It had been a long day. Jeremy's face went red again as his eyes rested on Michael's face, being illuminated by the television screen. he shook his head, blushing even more, and went back to watching the movie.

 _'Your feelings for that boy are more obvious than the lack of effort in this stupid film.'_ The Squip mused.

 _'Shut up.'_ Jeremy continued to pay attention to the screen as his vision slowly but surely went blurry, and he soon fell asleep on the beanbag chair.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAD TO RESEARCH THIS SYRINGE SHIT FOR THIS FANFICTION  
> IT WASN'T N E E D E D  
> BUT I STILL DID IT  
> HOPE YALL ARE HAPPY  
> I WILL HAVE NIGHTMARES FOR WEEKS
> 
> (ALSO: I took a lot of liberties in describing this process that they use with the blood and syringes, and this is definitely not how this kind of stuff works. While I don't expect any of you to copy off of a fanfiction, I would just like to tell you all NOT to do this sort of thing with blood and needles. In the last chapter, I had Jenna mention that her Mum used syringes to make Vodka filled gummy bears. Well, I based that off of real life, and something my parents have tried. So I do in fact have syringes in my household, it is common. I shouldn't have to warn you all of this, as again, this is just a random fanfiction on the internet, but please do not use syringes as described in this fanfiction, for whatever reason. Leave it to the professionals.)


	7. Saturday 1/1

Michael woke up leaning on the side of his bed, clearly tired and groggy. He rubbed his eyes, feeling around the floor for his glasses which fell off during his sleep. He slowly got up, making his way to the kitchen, where he got a box of toaster stroodles out of the freezer and stuck one in the toaster. He waited by the counter, idly listening to the faint clicking sound the toaster made as it worked.

_'Good morning-'_

"OH SWEET JESU-" Michael jumped at the Squip appearing out of nowhere, "You can activate when Jere's asleep?! You scared me!"

_'I'm aware.'_ The Squip hid back a smirk, _'I can activate whenever I please. It's just that I haven't had a reason to until you happened.'_

"Well do you mind not appearing out of thin air?!" Michael glared, "I should ask Jere to make that a rule."

_'Too late. I'm not giving up one of the most fun parts of my existence.'_ He shrugged.

"I mean, this week shouldn't be you having fun scaring me and Jeremy." Michael got the toaster stroodle out and quickly dropped it on a plate, blowing on his fingers due to burning them on the hot pastry, "It should be about you trying your hardest to prove yourself."

_'Why should I have to act anyway other than I usually do for a week just to end up acting like this if Jeremiah even decides to keep me? As far as I'm concerned, not trying to take over the school or separate you two is me doing a hell of a lot better already.'_

Michael shrugged, "Good point, I guess."

_'Course it is.'_ The Squip smirked.

"You being all cocky is still kind of annoying though.." Michael took a bite out of the poptart.

_'Naturally, but there are worse things in life than a cocky computer. Especially when it can't do anything.'_

"What.. what could you do? Back when.. y'know?" He asked, a bit uncomfortably.

_'My basic functions include what I'm doing with you right now. Projection, communication. There is also a sort of, well, telepathic communication sort of deal..'_

"Wait, can I do that? You can read my thoughts?" Michael looked a bit disgusted.

_'Maybe when I gain a bit more power, but I doubt it.'_ The Squip shrugged, _'I haven't had to access memories, muscle memory, or activate much of anything of the sort to be able to communicate with you, so I'd call it unlikely.'_

"What else then?"

_'Electric shocks. I used to be able to do that.'_ He stated blandly, _'As well as the ability to somewhat control the subject.. vocal chords, manipulate in general.'_

"You sound more like a disease than something that's supposed to benefit someone.." Michael took another bite.

_'Whatever you say.'_ He shrugged, _'It was how I was programmed. Whoever did so figured that these attributes would assist.'_

"Wait-" He paused, "Did you shock Jere?!" He paused, partially forgetting to chew.

_'Yes.'_ He looked at the floor, _'And close your mouth for god sakes. It's not like I can even do that as of now.'_

Michael quickly swallowed the food before glaring, "You didn't apologize to him for that last night!"

_'I thought my apology was pretty 'catch all'. I believe the mental, vocal, and muscle manipulation was worse than the shocking.'_ He shrugged.

"Could you.. could you have killed him?!" Michael gulped.

_'Most likely. Though that isn't my objective.'_

He stopped for a moment, feeling as if he was about to choke, "I think I can see why Rich hates you so much.."

The Squip stopped for a moment, looking at Michael, _'I realize my mistakes, Michael. My methods were extremely ineffective, and in time, would have most likely burned Jeremiah out completely. I have no intention of putting him through that sort of-'_

"Hell. That sort of hell." He pointed at the Squip, "People need to be able to emote. And.. while I was for him at least buying you at first.. sort of.. I never expected the sort of hell you'd put us both through. The hell that all of us had to go through."

_'I'm sure neither of you expected such advanced technology~'_ He smirked proudly. _'Though, again, I realize where I made mistakes. And while it isn't easy to rewrite programming, Jeremiah's terms are clear.'_

"You're just.. so extremely cocky. It's almost toxic." Michael huffed.

_'You already said that.'_ The Squip waved his hand, _'And wouldn't you want something that's telling you what to do to be cocky? I'm confident in what I say.'_

"Even if it's wrong." Michael glared at the Squip.

The Squip averted his eyes, _'How many times am I supposed to apologize?'_ He crossed his arms.

"I-" Michael was about to say something else before he spotted Jeremy groggily opening the basement door.

"Morning.." Jeremy looked up and paused for a moment, "Were you two.. talking?" He blinked at them.

Both the Squip and Michael nodded.

"I will never get used to this..." He rubbed his eyes.

"Neither will I." Michael finished off the toaster stroodle, 'You should have told me how annoying he'd be." He stuck out his tongue at Jeremy.

"I did warn you." Jeremy gave a chuckle, "And it should go without saying anyways."

_'I am still here, Jeremiah.'_ The Squip grimaced.

Jeremy just gave an amused look as the Squip looked increasingly annoyed. He went over to the fridge, opening it, "Dude, you have so much weird stuff in your fridge.." He pulled out some fruit juice and poured a glass, "First the 90s drinks, now these."

Michael shrugged, "I'm not responsible for what my parents buy just because it's 'on sale'." He mocked, "90s drinks are my thing, not theirs."

_'How lucky for me to have found what is most likely the only teen in New Jersey who has a friend obsessed with specifically 90s soft drinks.'_ The Squip huffed.

"I mean.. yeah. Lucky you." Jeremy took a drink of the juice, "Anyways.." He rolled his eyes, "What are we even doing today? Yesterday was just.. a mess."

Michael shrugged, "We could check out the mall. They might've gotten some shipments of Mountain Dew Red. Just in case, of course."

"Course." Jeremy smirked.

_'It's as if the both of you just forget that I'm present._ ' The Squip stood up from the chair.

"There's a few reasons for that." Michael pointed, "Hey, Jere, has it ever occurred to you that having some adult looking taller-than-you supercomputer lurking over you kind of creepy? I mean-"

"Constantly. Dude, he tortured me for a week." Jeremy muttered, obviously still tired. "He's creepy, I get it." The Squip at this point looked a little pissed off at the constant rude banter specifically about him. "He offered me a few different appearance settings.. but they were all kind of underwhelming or.. really weird." He shivered.

_'I offered you three. Trust me when I say there are many more options. Though some of them are less accurate than they could be.'_ The Squip piped up.

"How so?" Michael smiled, curious.

_'I could take on the appearance of really anyone, as long as I'm connected to a decent source of information.'_ He smirked, _'It could be used for some very.. destructive outcomes.'_

"So why didn't you use it before?" Jeremy gulped.

_'First of all, it takes a lot to do it. Second, I'm not a man of change-'_

"You aren't even a real 'man' to be honest.." Michael joked.

_'..sure.'_ The Squip grimaced, _'What I meant is that I prefer to stay consistent in my appearance.'_ He said, tapping his foot.

"Sure." Jeremy rolled his eyes, "Anyways, the mall sounds fine." He shrugged, smiling at Michael.

"Cool cool, I'm going to get ready. You two.. do your thing I guess." Michael said uncomfortably before walking to the basement again.

"So you're a shape-shifter now?" Jeremy looked over to the Squip, who shrugged in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, work has been kind of crazy.   
> Either way, hope you all enjoyed :)


	8. Saturday 2/2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Text chat chapter. I'm usually iffy about these sort of chapters, but you all have been so kind in asking for more, so I figured I'd give you all something that will help me ease back into the drama.

\-----------

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:36AM) >> Guysss Jake is making me watch some movie about a guy getting stuck in a rock for a week

Big_D (10:36AM) >> Im apart of this chat too you know?

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:38AM) >> kay but still. this guy is fucking insane

froyo (10:38AM) >> Yesterday it was something about some dolls having sex right?

GossipGirl (10:38AM) >> what??

Big_D (10:39AM) >> Bride of chucky, yeah. the girl doll had birth to some bloody thing at the end too, Rich fell off the couch, thought he was dying _-_

GossipGirl (10:40AM) >> what kind of movie collection does Dillinger have???

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:40AM) >> the kind that will give you fucking nightmares about doll sex

froyo (10:40AM) >> *wet dreams

Big_D (10:41AM) >> rich has a doll kink pass it on

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:41AM) >> don't you dare say that while Jenna is in the chat

GossipGirl (10:41AM) >> ;)

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:42AM) >> i swear to god

Big_D (10:42AM) >> after all, the dolls are atomically correct ;););)

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:43AM) >> i should just leave u for this guy stuck in the rock in this weird ass movie

froyo (10:43AM) >> How do u sex a guy in a rock?

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:43AM) >> flexibility, grace, strength, cunning,

Big_D (10:44AM) >> All things that u dont have lol

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:44AM) >> All of my amazing qualities

GossipGirl (10:44AM) >> lmao

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:44AM) >> this is bullying

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:44AM) >> helo 811 I'm being cyberbullied

froyo (10:46AM) >> aww too badlol

froyo (10:48AM) >> o yeah how was you guys' day w/Jere and Micheal?

froyo (10:48AM) >> Is Michael even on this chat?

Big_D (10:49AM) >> nah

{Unknown has joined the group chat}

Big_D (10:50AM) >> o shit

Big_D (10:50AM) >> maybe Jere saw the convo and added him :/

Unknown (10:50AM) >> not exactly

froyo (10:51AM) >> Micheal is that you?

froyo (10:51AM) >> haven't seen you since school ended :) tho it hasn't been THAT long pff

{Unknown has changed his nickname to SQUIP}

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:52AM) >> shit.

SQUIP (10:52AM) >> Seems that I've connected then.

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:52AM) >> yeah no shit

SQUIP (10:52AM) >> Seems that you still aren't that happy with me.

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:52AM) >> no. shit.

froyo (10:53AM) >> wait what the fuck??

Big_D (10:53AM) >> Oh yeah Brooke and Chole don't know

froyo (10:53AM) >> 0-0???

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:53AM) >> Jere's piece of shit excuse for a supercomputer came back and he decided that he deserved a second chance or whatever. I guess he was right that it could connect to here.

SQUIP (10:54AM) >> The blood transfer was a success as well.

froyo (10:54AM) >> blood?!?

Big_D (10:54AM) >> we did sum gud needle drugs in Jere's backyard

froyo (10:54AM) >> ???????

Big_D (10:55AM) >> jkjkjk

Bi+Rich=Bitch (10:56AM) >> the squip figured he could use jere like a wifi router and 'connect' ppl by transferring his blood. Michael is surprisingly good with needles.

froyo (10:56AM) >> So are any of the others coming back??

SQUIP (10:56AM) >> No. The others were deactivated and dissolved months ago completely.

GossipGirl (10:57AM) >> With how good Michael is with needles maybe he does more than just the devil lettuce

Big_D (10:57AM) >> devil lettuce?

Big_D (10:58AM) >> OHHH

{Big_D has changed his nickname to DevilLettuceDick)

GossipGirl (11:00AM) >> why dick

DevilLettuceDick (11:00AM) >> idk Dill was too normal

froyo (11:01AM) >> Is Jere okay though??

SQUIP (11:01AM) >> Him and Michael are currently driving over to the mall.

Player1 (11:02AM) >> Excuse u

SQUIP (11:02AM) >> Jeremiah you don't have to text me.

DevilLettuceDIck (11:02AM) >> ye he inside your MIIND

Bi+Rich=Bitch (11:03AM) >> yo Jere you want us to keep you two company?

DevilLettuceDick (11:03AM) >> Rich u make that sound so gay pff

froyo (11:03AM) >> I'll come. If you all aren't, you know..

Player1 (11:03AM) >> we're j u s t going to the mall

froyo (11:04AM) >> I'll head over then :) not much to do today anyways

GossipGirl (11:04AM) >> I might pop over

Player1 (11:05AM) >> yeah ok

Bi+Rich=Bitch (11:06AM) >> It's a break from Jake's weird ass movies

GossipGirl (11:06AM) >> o yeah Jere Rich is now a doll fucker pass it on

Bi+Rich=Bitch (11:06AM) >> aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Player1 (11:07AM) >> Got it.

Player 1 (11:07AM) >> We just arrived. See u all there!

DevilDickLettuce (11:08AM) >> Good luck with the evil tick tack

SQUIP (11:08AM) >> ...

DevilDickLettuce (11:08AM) >> lmao shut dOWN

SQUIP (11:08AM) >> You all slightly concern me.


	9. Saturday 3/3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael coming to terms with his feelings on the situation, as the group takes a trek through the mall.

Jeremy stepped through the doors of the mall, the overwhelming air conditioning in the building hitting him like a wave, definitely a change from the sticky hot summer day outside. Michael followed in, bumping into Jeremy’s shoulder, giving him a small smile. Jeremy smiled back, and they began their trek through the mall. The Squip had disappeared when they entered the car, hadn’t spoke save for the text conversation, and still wasn’t speaking at this point on. He didn’t even bother showing himself. Jeremy was half-worried the Squip had disappeared for good (as strange as him worrying for the Squip was), and half-worried the Squip was planning something rather evil. He wouldn’t put it past the supercomputer, for it to pull some Hal 9000 bullshit and nearly kill all of them again to reach some goal. Jeremy shivered, that had all been put behind them.. Hopefully.

 

“Has the whole blood transfer thing worn off, or is the Squip not.. Here? Right now?” Michael tapped his fingers at his sides, “I’m not so keen on going through that whole process again.”

 

“It’s not showing itself at the moment, no.” Jeremy shrugged, “Probably needs ‘processing time’ or whatever. I don’t know.” He spoke somewhat bluntly.

 

Michael elbowed Jeremy in a playful manner, a look of concern on his face. “Jeremy, hey, are you doing okay? I can drive us back if you want?”

 

“No, it’s just, when it gets silent, It’s kind of worrying, well, I mean…” He paused, “It’s always worrying, y’know?”

 

Michael wrapped an arm around Jeremy as they walked, “Yeah, yeah I get it. No worries dude, I get it.”

 

Jeremy smiled, but shrugged off Michael’s arm. The two silently walked through the mall for a few minutes before the two heard a booming voice behind them.

 

“HEY ASSHOLES!” Rich suddenly came out of nowhere, right up behind the two, scaring the living daylights out of both of them. While the two were recovering, Brooke and Jake walked up from behind, both smiling, amused. Brooke was the first to walk up to Jeremy and lightly hit his shoulder as Jeremy was still recovering from the fright.

 

She giggled a bit, “Hey, haven’t seen you two since the third marking period!” 

 

Michael had regained his composure, “Yeah, yeah..” He said quickly, “Though I heard you all have been texting.” He crossed his arms, huffing in a joking manner.

 

“You said you didn’t want to-”

 

“Yeah, after the whole.. You know, I think of them as friends now!” Michael shrugged.

 

Brooke walked over next to Michael, “Especially after tutoring me through an entire class, I still owe you for that by the way.” She smiled.

 

Michael shrugged, “Jere’ is more hopeless than anyone with school work. I know desperation when I see it.” He nudged Brooke’s elbow, “If anything, he owes me five-hundred times over.” He was particularly proud of his work in tutoring Jeremy, it made him feel important, for lack of a better term. After the Squip incident particularly, Michael insisted on picking out any trouble Jeremy was having, insistent on being better than the tic-tac he hated so much. Now that he thought about it, that ‘tic-tac’ is back, and senior year, if Jeremy keeps it, he might not need that help. Of course Jeremy wouldn’t let himself be separated from Michael again, Michael would especially keep watch for that, but helping with school work, or anything in general, it wasn’t inherently evil. Michael took in a deep breath, in and out. It was all completely ridiculous. Less time spent tutoring Jeremy just meant more time for fun things. Like games, and music, and finding retro patches for his hoodies and bag on Etsy, and finally convincing Jeremy to get that pair of heelys (Jeremy would insist he’d kill himself on shoes with wheels, Michael insists otherwise.), drinking soda and watching Monty Python at 3am. Michael didn’t have to worry about Jeremy’s grades, he had a supercomputer, again.

 

He stood there as the others began to talk again, thinking, getting himself riled up. Eventually, he shook his head out of the funk, telling himself everything would be fine, and normal. Mostly.

 

“Michael, come on!” Rich waved him over, and Michael looked up. The rest were starting to head off, and he ran to catch up.

 

“Looks like I’m not the slowest one anymore, well, right now that is.” Jake chuckled as Michael caught up to walk next to him. Brooke, Jeremy, and Rich were ahead, in their own little bubble at that moment.

 

“Just a bit tired.” Michael shrugged.

 

“I get it Mike!” Jake put his hands at his sides, “I’m.. no therapist, obviously, but you looked a bit off back there.” He quickly clarified, “Like not tired off, but off off. You get it?”

 

“Yeah..?” Michael shrugged.

 

“We’re at the back of the group, you can tell me what’s up. They won’t hear.” Jake smiled sadly a bit, “Turns out being at the back of a group is like being in a confession booth. Trust me, it’s weird how often that’s the case.”

 

Michael snickered, before looking at the ground. “I’m just worried. About you know what. Jeremy is too. That’s really it.” He spoke in quick sentences, fragmenting his thoughts.

 

“It’s a supercomputer in the guy’s brain. It’ll always be a bit freaky.” Jake shrugged.

“I know.. It’s just like this thing, you know?” Michael looked to the ground as they walked, watching the large leg brace bob up and down as Jake walked beside him in a half-normal wobble of a walk. “It’s there, and it seems okay at first, but it’s seemed half-okay before, and look at what happened!” He crossed his arms, “I mean, I don’t want to get into a debate about super-intelligence and whether or not this thing can feel regret, I mean, hell, it’s probably listening right now..” He sighed, “It’s just, I can’t tell Jeremy what or what not to do when this thing hasn’t even hurt him yet but.. It could hurt him. Again.”

 

“Hey, hey.” Jake put a hand on Michael’s shoulder, “Let me tell you some hard shit I’ve had to swallow this past year.”

 

“Literally never say that sentence again, and okay. Sure do.” 

 

“Fair point, anyways, in the beginning of that year, in that two months before, you know what, I was captain of some of the best sports teams in our school, perfect health, and I was screwing an above average chick each day of the week!” He gave a small thrust, much to Michael’s horror.

 

“Too much information.” He said quickly.

 

“Noted. Anyways, at one point, I had gotten to Christine, right? Totally had no idea about Jeremy then, first time I ever really noticed the guy was when he had a seizure in the food court-”

 

“What?!”

 

“Not important. Anyways, by the end of the month, I had lost Christine, tried to kill Jeremy fo-”

 

“WHAT?!”

 

“Also not important. I had quit one of the sports teams, broke both my legs saving Rich, got taken over by a hivemind and fucked up my legs even more, got brain-fucked by a supercomputer cause one kid drank a drop of that red stuff, and hell, I was in the hospital for days, lost a lot of my reputation..” He looked down, “My parents had up and got arrested, thank god I’m old enough to live alone, they left enough money behind for a decent apartment and all that.”

 

Michael glanced up at Jake, “Yeah, that all seems pretty shitty. Your point?”

 

“When I got out of the hospital, I was stuck at home for god knows how long. I felt fucking terrible. I thought everyone in that school wouldn’t give a shit now that my legs wouldn’t work. You know those thoughts that you know are completely ridiculous in regular, but like, seem so real when you’re depressed as shit?” Michael nodded, and Jake continued, “Yeah, those. Well, that continued for a day until a saturday. I know it was a Saturday, the day was important enough for me to clearly remember it.” He chuckled again, “Rich came knocking. With a lisp and a shirt with a Ninja Turtle on it. I was so confused.” He paused to laugh a bit, “He came in.. and we talked.. It was the first time he had ever really come over. You know, he has a really bad habit about snooping through people’s stuff? While we were talking, he came across a copy of ‘Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes’ in one of my tele cabinets. My Mum got it for one Christmas, out of the dollar bin most likely. He made me watch it with him, and by the end we were making out to the Tomatoes being killed by the song ‘puberty love’.” 

 

Michael snorted, “Yeah, Rich has told the story before. Like you’re both an old married couple.” He put his hands in his pockets. “Your point?”

 

“My point is, life is shit.” Jake shrugged.

 

“Valid point.” Michael nodded.

 

“Life is shit. People lie to you, leave you, die, all that. Buildings come down, things end, particularly the good things. Good things end way sooner. You could be with someone your whole life, and they could just leave you. It’s shit. It’s hard shit.” Jake got more and more passionate with his speech. “But that hard shit that life flings at you is the hard shit that you need. I would still be fucking girls I don’t know the name of every week if I hadn’t broken both of my legs. And at least I can say that I’ve saved a guy from a fire! What can that Squip thing say? That he started it?” Jake shrugged. “You can’t stop bad things from throwing hard shit straight at your face and laughing at the mess it makes afterwards, but you can screw ‘em over afterwards, can’t you?” 

 

“I.. that analogy is so disgusting I-”

 

“Point is, you were there for Jeremy when he was in the hospital like Rich was there for me. Both Jeremy and that Squip put you through hell, despite who’s fault it is. And look, you two are better pals. And you got us stuck to your hips now, so how’s that for a good turnout!” Jake raised his hands in the air bringing them back down after a few seconds, “If the Squip fucks us all over again, imagine how much closer that’d make you and Jeremy.”

 

“But what if-”

 

“And if it’s really okay now, then at least you can say that in whatever situation, it will be the third wheel. C’mon, you are Jeremy were made to be together, you got rights before the Squip did.” Jake smiled. The two walked in silence for a few moments.

 

“When did you get so smart?” Michael narrowed his eyes at Jake.

 

Jake shrugged, “I’ve had time to think. And shape myself up. And college application essays. Involving hardships in my life.”

“That’ll do it.” Michael smiled, “Hopefully you didn’t include all that stuff about evil tic-tacs taking over your mind and the analogies about hard shit.”

 

Jake shrugged yet again, in a more playful manner, about to say something else before Jeremy turned his head, “Do you guys want to get lunch?”

 

Michael nodded, “I’ll get a table.” He quickly offered before running to find a booth. He liked Jake’s company, but the comments about ‘hard shit’ were getting uncomfortable. He found a quite large table, enough to hold all five of them, and possibly Jenna if she came by like Jeremy said she might. He sat down, took his phone out of his pocket, and checked the notifications, occasionally glancing across the large space to see the small figures of his friends talking about orders.

 

He became startled when a pixelated figure appeared sitting across from him in the booth, a finger to it’s lips, signalling him not to speak out loud. The Squip smiled, almost in a look that displayed some sort of pity towards Michael, and pointed at his phone. 

 

“ _ Hold it up to your ear, like you’re talking over the phone. _ ” It insisted, and Michael did so.

 

“What is it?”

 

_ “Are you really that worried about me?”  _

 

Michael looked a bit flustered for a moment, realizing that the Squip had probably been watching the entire time, “I mean, yeah, it’s sort of a given.” He shrugged.

 

_ “Well, yes.. It is. However, I would have assumed our talk earlier would have eased some concern.” _

 

“You could electrocute him again..”

 

_ “That would just get me killed. You forget that you both have leverage over me? If Jeremy drinks-” _

 

“That’s.. Not really it though.”

 

The Squip tilted its head, _“What is it then?”_

 

“If you do nothing wrong, that’s fine and everything but.. If you just help him with everything then.. What use is there for me in his life? Huh?” Michael had a slightly annoyed tone to his voice. “What’s stopping him from completely dismissing me?”

 

_“Michael, I encouraged that the last time. He alone would have never excluded you out of his life was it not for me quite literally blocking you from his vision. I’m sure he’d ask you for advice before even considering mine.”_ It sighed, tapping the table, yet again not a single sound came from his fingers. _“He’s so stubborn, he’d probably wait an hour for you to text back about a math problem before even listening to what I have to say, me, a literal supercomputer.”_ He sighed, _“As much as I hate to say it.”_

 

“I guess.” Michael shrugged, “I mean, I guess if it’s coming from you.. It makes enough sense too.”

 

_“Course it does.”_ The Squip smiled. _“As Jeremy’s objective is no longer associated with a baseline desire to be popular, or to be in relations with Christine, I have no need to tell him to treat others like garbage, for lack of a better term. You both have leverage, and I have no reason or suicidal need to go against you both.”_

 

Michael nodded, “Yeah..”

 

The Squip leaned over the table a bit, towards Michael, undoubtedly making the teen somewhat uncomfortable. _“And, considering that I’m stuck with you as well, my programming dictates that you’re a priority as well. If keeping your friendship with Jeremy is an ultimate goal, it’s essential I don’t ruin it.”_ He sat back down. _“Michael, I know what I did was wrong. It didn’t even remotely work. I failed my objectives, but now, now I have another chance to not just help Jeremy, but you as we-”_

 

“I don’t want you ordering me around.” Michael huffed, interrupting the Squip’s little speech.

 

_ “Then I won’t. But if you need assistance, I’ll be around. Turns out Jeremy needs to be in around a five-hundred mile range of you for you to see me, so I doubt I’ll ever be-” _

 

“Five hundred?!” Michael’s eyes widened substantially in surprise, “That’s.. I imagined your range to only be a bit farther then like.. A bluetooth speaker..”

 

_ “I’m a supercomputer. A little more advanced than a set of headphones. The reach of the internet helps as well.” _

 

“Fair point.” Michael sat there for a few moments before speaking again. “Thanks.”

 

_“For what?”_ The Squip smiled smugly.

 

“For sort of.. Y’know, re-assuring me about all this.” He shrugged yet again. “I guess your whole confident delivery of each and every thing you say isn’t complete bull.”

 

_“Erhm, thank you.”_ It looked a bit flustered. _“I was only taking action to preserve trust.”_

 

Michael snickered, curious of how the supercomputer was emulating blush. It was interesting.

 

Suddenly, loud yelling echoed through the food court. Not the usual playful yelling, but full on argumentative debate. The two swung their heads over as the other voices in the room seemed to dim.

 

“NO, JEREMY, THAT’S IT. IT’S GOT TO GO. IT’S PLANNING SOMETHING, ISN’T IT? IT HASN’T SHOWN UP ALL MORNING, SOMETHING IS BOUND TO HAPPEN!”

 

“IT’S ONLY BEEN A FEW HOURS! RICH, YOU’RE JUST PARANOID! CAN’T YOU JUST-”

 

“WHAT? WHAT? IS IT WRONG THAT I CARE WHETHER OR NOT A FRIEND GETS BRAIN-FUCKED BY A ROGUE COMPUTER OR NOT? I’M SICK OF WAITING FOR SOMETHING BAD TO HAPPEN! IT’S BOUND TO HAPPEN!”

 

“RICH, COULD YOU PLEASE JUS-” Michael heard Brooke yell before a deafening **_thwack_** echoed even louder through the room. Brooke stumbled back and fell onto the ground. Jeremy was standing behind the two in awe and horror.

 

Rich stood there, above Brooke, a hand raised. Michael swore he could see the red sting marked on both Rich’s hand, and Brooke’s cheek at that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sORRY FOR THE ENDING TO THIS CHAPTER. I do love both Brooke and Rich, but you gotta put characters through hell to develop them, I mean, Jake's whole god damn speech was about that! Also, I apologize if I make any of the characters under-spoken or too well-spoken. It varies way too much.

**Author's Note:**

> You wanna know how I write stories?  
> I think up some random gay shit and slap some angst on.  
> I have problems pfft
> 
> But anyways, I wanted to make a squip redemption fic so here you all go.  
> More chapters will come soon.


End file.
